Balloon Solar Concentrator Generates 350 Times the Electricity

"UTILITY SCALE SOLAR POWER"

The folks at Cool Earth Solar (www.coolearthsolar.com) have 1 mission: make a global energy solution that plugs into existing power grids at a cost that rivals coal and fossil fuel-fired power plants. Period.

And it looks like they just might have a shot at it-- with giant mylar birthday balloons.

CONCENTRATOR SOLAR

Solar power is great, but if it's going to catch on as a viable mainstream alternative, it's going to have to become ALOT more efficient. That means producing economies of scale and producing much more efficient solar energy collection systems in order to provide "utility-scale" power-- electricity in the amounts, and at the pricepoints available from traditional generation technologies. And THAT means creating MUCH cheaper and more efficient Concentrator Solar technology.

Concentrator solar systems such as the Stirling Energy Systems 25kW/hr SunCatcher pictured below is nothing new. They've been around for years and they're pretty effective.

The problem long-plauging solar technology though, is it's inability to provide power on the scale America needs at a price that is competitive with existing "dirtier" technologies.

But now, as new advancements are being made in the area of photovoltaics and solar energy, many new technologies are coming online almost daily to provide cheaper, more efficient means of collecting solar power. And while there are any number of fledgling concentrator systems being pursued at the moment, one of the most interesting, and one with the most potential, are the Solar Concentrator "Balloons" from Cool Earth Solar.



HOW IT WORKS

Cool Earth's solar concentrator balloons look like 8-foot wide mylar happy birthday balloons. Mounted 4-10 feet off the ground, they house a small traditional solar panel inside the balloon, which is lined with aluminum, making it almost like a 2-way mirror that allows Sunlight in, and then doesn't let it out. Instead of reflecting off the solar panel as with a normal photovotaic cell system, it bounces around inside the balloon and concentrates on the photovoltaic cell inside. The result is that each solar panel is able to absorb 350 times more energy than it would without the balloon.

As you can imagine, just like the sunlight through a magnifying glass you used to burn ants with when you were a kid, concentrating sunlight that much produces alot of heat at the focal point. So, to keep the cells from burning out quickly, each cell is water-cooled to dissipate heat quickly and extend the life of the cell.

Interestingly, in order to further maximize solar concentration, the air presure within the balloons can be varied in order to change the curvature of the balloon's mirrored surface to reconcentrate the sunlight as needed.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR ME?

So what does all that boil down to? Well, as the March '09 issue of The Economist notes:

"The result, according to Rob Lamkin, Cool Earth’s boss, is a device that costs $1 per watt of generating capacity to install. That is about the same as a large coal-fired power station. Of course, balloons do not last as long as conventional power stations (each is estimated to have a working life of about a year). But the fuel (sunlight) is free. When all the sums are done, Mr Lamkin reckons his company will be able to sell electricity to California’s grid for 11 cents a kilowatt-hour, the state’s target price for renewable energy, while still turning a tidy profit."
(Click HERE for the article) - www.economist.com/sciencetechnology/tq/displayStory.cfm?story_id=13174508

LIFESPAN/DURABILITY ISSUES

According to Lamkin, the balloons have a relatively short lifespan of 5 years and will actually be replaced every year, due to the extremely low cost to produce them.

Additionally, the balloons can supposedly withstand 125mph winds, and if a balloon is punctured, rather than popping or deflating, the hole simply slowly leaks air, while the balloon retains it shape and most of its effectiveness until it is inspected and repaired.

All in all, a very promising technology. We'll see how well it can live up to the big claims made about it.


Below are several more sources for reading on the topic:

Click HERE for a great video from Planet Green's Focus Earth program showcasing CoolEarth balloons.
(http://www.coolearthsolar.com/news/planetgreen)

Click HERE for CoolEarth's marketing powerpoint pdf: (http://www.coolearthsolar.com/CoolEarth_SP2006.pdf)

Click HERE for DISCOVER Magazine's Q&A with CoolEarth CEO Rob Lamkin.
(http://discovermagazine.com/2008/oct/19-powering-planet-with-sun-harnessing-balloons)

Click HERE to read a great quick HuffPost article debunking solar myths with quick facts and photos.
(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/15/solar-energy-reality-chec_n_158258.html)

Click HERE to read the San Francisco Business Times article regarding a few Bay Area "utility-scale" solar power companies.
(http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2009/05/11/focus3.html)

Click HERE to read the San Francisco Chronicle mini-Q&A with CoolEarth's CEO.
(http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/05/16/BUAD17LDEE.DTL)

Click HERE for a CNN Money/Fortune article on CoolEarth Solar.
(http://greenwombat.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2008/11/05/generating-electricity-from-a-balloon/)

Click HERE for Forbes.com's post about CoolEarth's potential.
(http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2008/1117/058.html)

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Where's the News?!?!

Message from the Editor:

Hey everyone! I'm sure you're all (all 3 of you;) dying to read more electrifying content here and I know it's been dead for a few weeks, but don't worry - as of August 1st I'll be back ON IT full-speed!!! I have a big exam to take at the end of the month, but after that I'll be posting again.

Thanks for reading and Stay tuned... It's about to get AWESOME!!!

-The Ed

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Will Lithium Batteries Make Bolivia the "Saudi Arabia of Electric Cars"?

BOLIVIAN SALT DESERTS



I love a win-win situation. Who doesn't? One of the greatest things about new fuel technologies is that often they produce [potential] win-win situations. But harnessing resources for new technoloies effectively requires a careful balancing of concerns on how to most efficiently bring key raw materials to market, concerns about environmental responsibilites, and concerns for the inhabitants of lands containing such materials.

PRODUCING A VIABLE ALTERNATIVE

More efficient batteries are the key to producing viable electric vehicles which will be able to compete with traditional combustion engine vehicles because they extend the usuable range to a comparable distance and free up interior space for passengers and cargo.

Right now, lithium is the key compenent to making those better batteries that will power those viable alternatives. It seems only proper then to assume that the demand for lithium is going to rise in parallel with the growth in popularity of lithium batteries as a power source.

THE OBVIOUS QUESTION

Where is the increased supply output going to come from?

Right now, it looks like the obvious answer is Bolivia.

Located in the heart of South America, Bolivia is a relatively undeveloped country. But it possess numerous salt deserts. It's from these deserts that lithium is harvested. Bolivians are literally standing on their future. As one of the poorest countries in South America, this natural resource could be their key to a better life (or the key to their destruction, if one were a pessimest...).



BOLIVIA'S NATIONALIST APPROACH

Evo Morales, the Bolivian President and strong critic of the U.S., is wary of foreign exploitation of his country and it's resources, and understandably so. It makes sense. After all, it is their lithium. Right now, the country is forging ahead in a nationalistic direction to protect its self-interests.

However, its' best interests may better be served by embracing a participatory, global perspective. While Chile, Argentina and even the US have natural lithium resources of their own, the U.S. Geological Survey estimates that 5.4 million tons are waiting to be extracted from the salt deserts in Bolivia - half the world's lithium supply, and significantly more than any other country in the world.

Read more HERE at the New York Times, or HERE at the Huffington Post.

HOW WILL BOLIVIA EXPLOIT ITS RESOURCES EFFICIENTLY?



The Bolivian government is projected to spend millions in harvesting and development plants for refining its' lithium reserves over the coming years. However, the country still lacks necessary funds and the know-how regarding harvesting all that lithium.

GM, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Nissan-Renault, Mitsubishi and Volkswagon are all looking to get their hands on lithium to either upgrade existing hybrid/electric cars or to use in new model production.

Read More HERE at Treehugger.com.

To date, the Bolivian government has denied companies the ability to harvest the resource in it's raw state. The Bolivians want a piece of the action, and rightly so. In that light, it appears that the only option is to strike a deal - Bolivia needs to find a partner that can efficently harvest and refine the raw material into market-ready product.

As one journalist wrote recently: "Bolivia could own 51 percent of the new operations while allowing foreign capital to invest new funds through acquiring the remaining 49 percent share of the business. This would keep the final decision in the hands of the Bolivian people while at the same time provide enough capital upfront to commence the production process."

Read more HERE at the Council On Hemispheric Affairs (COHA.org).

While sort of a simplistic solution, the point it makes is obvious. As an added bonus, the increased revenue coming into Bolivia would help elevate the country from it's current meager spot on the world stage. The government would have money to invest in newer technology, more jobs and most importantly education.



CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM

Provided that lithium extraction is done in an environmentally responsible way, the revenue is channeled properly through to its citizens and safeguards are implemented to prevent foreign corporations from cleaning Bolivia the way a school of piranahs might clean an unlucky cow in the waters of the Amazon, a new generation of Bolivians could spread their wings, with new opportunities and resources never before available to them.

Sounds [potentially] pretty win-win to me.

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Bye-Bye Search Engines. Hello KNOWLEDGE ENGINE - Check Out Wolfram|Alpha.

INFINITE KNOWLEDGE AT YOUR FINGERTIPS

Ever try to find a specific answer or information about something by typing your search into Google? Sometimes you can get a direct answer (like a currency conversion or a metric/standard conversion) if you type the right search, but more often then not, you get LINKS to many other sites (or worse, spamblogs) that may or may not have relevant or accurate information.

ENTER WOLFRAM|ALPHA

(screenshot)

Wolfram|Alpha is a new kind of search engine. In fact, its creators call it a "Knowledge Engine".

Want to see stats on the "International Space Station" (including even it's current location in orbit)? Just type it in. Need to solve a complex math equation? Just type it in! Want the demographic information or local weather for "Louisville, Kentucky", or the average nutritional facts for a "Pizza"? Yep - just type it in.

Click on the Wolfram|Alpha search bar above, or Click HERE to try it out at www.wolframalpha.com. Couldn't be easier.

More specifically, according to its FAQ's page, Wolfram|Alpha is a free "computational knowledge engine: it generates output by doing computations from its own internal knowledge base, instead of searching the web and returning links" and it is designed "to bring expert-level knowledge to everybody."

Use it for combined websearching, and even insert a Wolfram|Alpha box in your Googleor Yahoodesktop, or in your blog (like the one on the right of this page). It works with all standard browsers (and your iphone too). It's intuitive and as easy to use as Google. The company even has custom intranet and corporate data solutions (Click Here). And what they don't have today, the will have soon.



Here are a few screenshots of search results on the Wolfram|Alpha homepage:




WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Check it out, kick the tires and let us know what you think by posting your comments here!

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